Brave Old World
The kangaroos in dungarees
were hip-hopping among the rhes-
us monkeys swinging from the trees
at recess in the zoo,
while all the crocs and alligators
in the ponds were watching waders
feeding on insect invaders
having lunch there, too.
Across the veldt, that grassy belt,
huge lions in the sun would melt
and wait until a mate had felt
their lunch was overdue.
Birds in trees where they had bred
would fly and circle overhead.
Their watchful eyes were truly dread
by tiny mammals who
would forage in the undergrowth
for bugs or berries, sometimes both.
Their kits were hungry; they were loath
to come home with too few.
The children on the path could see
so many creatures, A to Z,
who populated Earth ’fore we
had joined the party, too.
were hip-hopping among the rhes-
us monkeys swinging from the trees
at recess in the zoo,
while all the crocs and alligators
in the ponds were watching waders
feeding on insect invaders
having lunch there, too.
Across the veldt, that grassy belt,
huge lions in the sun would melt
and wait until a mate had felt
their lunch was overdue.
Birds in trees where they had bred
would fly and circle overhead.
Their watchful eyes were truly dread
by tiny mammals who
would forage in the undergrowth
for bugs or berries, sometimes both.
Their kits were hungry; they were loath
to come home with too few.
The children on the path could see
so many creatures, A to Z,
who populated Earth ’fore we
had joined the party, too.
This poem is copyright (©) Ken Gosse 2024
About the Writer
Ken Gosse
Ken prefers using simple language and traditional meter and rhyme in verses with whimsy and humor. First published in The First Literary Review–East in November 2016, his poems are also in Visual Verse, Pure Slush, Home Planet News, and others. Now retired, he and his wife were raised in the Chicago suburbs. They have lived in Mesa, Arizona, over twenty years, usually with several rescue dogs and cats underfoot.